So when are y'all starting invitro...?

I have heard this question so many times in the past couple of months and I hate that I can't give a definite answer to anyone. My usual answer is...sometime in June...but even that is not totally accurate. In-vitro is such a complicated process to understand and explain, that I do not want to even begin to be an expert on the process. I can tell you what I understand at this point, and hopefully that will help out with curiousity! My lovely nurses at San Antonio sent me an IVF calendar yesterday with my information and dates filled in. But even this is not 100% exact, depending on the start day of my upcoming cycle. So, I will try and do the best I can...but know that I don't know if I will ever understand completely!!!

Basically, right now we are waiting on my cycle to start (sorry Grant...I know you don't want to hear about this...ha!). Once that starts, I will begin taking Birth Control Pills for approximately 18-21 days...weird I know! This is basically to shut down my system before we start the hormone injections (I think). After BCP, I will have a couple of days off, then head to San Antonio for a sonogram and blood test. If my levels look good (whatever that means) and the sonogram confirms something (I don't know what they are looking for) then we are good to start the injections. While we are in San Antonio, they will give us a crash course in all of our medications and injections and let Derek practice shooting me up...ha! We have done injections before, but not to the extent in which IVF requires. After our "training session" they will let us come home to start the fun process of medications!!! Obviously, I am THRILLED about this part...ha!
The next 8-10 days we will be at home taking our hormone injections. I will be getting sonograms and blood work done about every other day during this time, but can do all of that in San Angelo with Katy, my wonderful nurse! We will need LOTS of prayer during this time that a) Derek can inject me without me killing him and b) that Derek can survive me on hormones without me killing him...ha! The goal in this week is to develop as many healthy eggs as possible to harvest. The sonograms and bloodwork will be monitoring my ovaries to see how the eggs are developing. When the sonogram looks like I'm "ready" (whatever this means) we will head to San Antonio to prepare for the retrieval.

Once we get to San Antonio, they will confirm that I am ready through their own sonogram and bloodwork. If everything is on track, we will stay in San Antonio for the retrieval. The retrieval involves putting me under anesthesia in the doctor's office and they will go in with a big long needle (fun!) to retrieve as many eggs as possible. The eggs will be fertilized that day with Derek's sperm and sent to the lab to begin growing (Grow Babies Grow!!!). I will rest after the procedure and begin getting ready for implantation.

After three days, I will be back in the doctor's office for the implantation. Hopefully our little embryos will have developed on track up to this point and they will select the best two embryos for implantation. There is whole grading system with numbers and letters, but I have no idea what all they look for or what any of that means, so I will just say they are looking for the best two. The best two embryos will be implanted that day, , band we will begin the longest two weeks of our entire life!!! They will continue to let the other embryos grow until day five, where they will hopefully be able to freeze some for further use. We will be able to return home where we will wait (as patiently as possible) for two weeks before getting a blood test to determine pregnancy. Since I am such a patient person, this should be a breeze...NOT!!!

I know this is a very simplistic breakdown of a much more complicated process, but I hope this helps to explain a little bit about our upcoming journey! I will probably look back on this blog after we are done and realize I had no idea what I was talking about...ha! But this is what I understand, right now. Obviously, we are coveting your prayers more than ever at this point. I don't know exactly for sure when we will begin this process, but I can tell you that it will be VERY soon! We are both nervous and excited to get started, but more than anything we are thankful that God has allowed us this opportunity in our life to continue this process. I would love to keep updating this with information, dates, and what we are going through so that you can partner with us in prayer through this journey! Right now, I ask selfishly that you will pray for peace in our hearts as we battle with nerves and fears about the unknown. We are so blessed with friends and family who have lifted us up in prayer to this point. We love you!

Derek and I before Lake View's Prom